


Either Need Better Aim or a Different Target

by Ceata88



Category: LEGO Nexo Knights
Genre: Aaron used to be a big troublemaker, Brickland is a strict but good teacher, Gen, are Aaron and Axl platonic or romantic??, lots of hcs about Aaron's parents, this got way out of hand, who are kind of toxic, who knows not me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 13:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13342176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceata88/pseuds/Ceata88
Summary: Aaron always found school tricky, but it's even harder to focus when your reasons for attending the Knight Academy are more or less "stay as far away from my parents as possible". Never has an easy time making friends either.But maybe he can figure it out, bit by bit.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is more or less a bunch of hcs I have about Aaron written down as scenes and put together into a one shot sooo yay?
> 
> Takes place over the course of his second semester of his first year. 
> 
> As chill and level headed as Aaron is now I tend to believe he wasn't always like that, specially during his early teens. 
> 
> AND as for his parents I find it odd someone this social and cheerful would never talk about them. Without a doubt the show is going to ruin my hcs but take them anyway. 
> 
> Uploading it in parts to keep you guys from dealing with a text wall.

    “Madam, I didn’t just call you here because of this one incident. We’ve caught your son starting food fights, fist fights, pulling and endless list of pranks, disrupting classes, and even causing some serious damage to Merlock’s library.”   
  
    “Yeesh Athena, what have you been letting our son get into.”  
  
    “Excuse me? Maybe you’d already know if you had bothered to see him more than twice a year.”   
  
    “And who’s the one who insisted on moving across the kingdom?”  
  
    “You could have come with us, but no. All you ever gave a damn about were those trinkets of yours.”   
  
    “They’re weapons, that The King commissioned me to make need I remind you.”   
  
    Aaron covered his ears. They confiscated his headphones after all. He desperately tried to block out the voices coming from the other side of the wall. His parents arguing. Principal Brickland trying to calm them both down long enough to have a reasonable discussion about how to discipline him.   
  
    Part of the entire reason he insisted on going to the Knight’s Academy was to get away from his parents. Now he’d managed to get into so much trouble they were showing up anyway.  
  
    He considered trying to stay out of it, but it wasn’t his fault this time.   
  
    Lance Richmond could go to hell.   
  
    The yelling had stopped, somehow. He slowly lowered his hands, trying to listen to what was going on.   
  
    “I’ll keep it simple. Between all this trouble and his performance in his classes I can’t guarantee he’ll make it to his second year.”   
  
    His mother gasped. “But he so desperately wanted to come here.”  
  
    “Maybe to get away from you.”  
  
    “Watch your mouth, Archie.”  
  
    Aaron covered his ears again as the yelling continued.  
  
\-------------------  
  
    The first time Aaron properly met Axl was when they both were in the same training class during the second semester.  
  
    The classes were small enough to start with, only about thirty students per grade, but Brickland tended to keep the training groups even smaller. That way if they needed to do team exercises there wasn’t too much chaos or people sitting on the sidelines.  
  
    It was teams of two that day, the typical “try and hit the other team’s target before they hit yours” type of deal. Brickland rarely assigned teams. He always worked under the idea that if you and your chosen partner couldn’t win a single round you either chose someone else or figured it out.   
  
    Aaron was on that list of people almost no one wanted to pair up with.   
  
    Partially because by now he’d wound up picking fights with almost everyone in his grade along with a couple of upperclassmen. But it was mostly because he was too easily distracted.  
  
    That’s what they always called it anyway.   
  
    “Looks like it’s me and you bro,” Aaron tried to be as casual as possible as he stood next to Axl.   
  
    The guy was tall, unbelievably tall, even though they were both thirteen. Aaron had a bad feeling he’d never catch up. They were almost at eye level and Axl was sitting down.   
  
    Axl just hummed, finishing what was either a protein bar or a candy bar.   
  
    “Surprised no one tried to grab you. Team battles not your thing?”   
  
    “They are,” Axl said. “Think most people are just scared of me.”   
  
    “What? Really? Ah well,” Aaron rested his elbow on Axl’s shoulder and leaned on him. “Good thing I have... no fear!”   
  
    When he didn’t hear Axl respond he glanced over to see the taller student staring at him. His eyes, which were almost gold in color, seemed to be staring right into the back of his mind.  
  
    Then he just hummed again, opening up another candy bar.   
  
\------------------  
  
    Aaron lost all three matches that day.  
  
    Again.  
  
    He could deal with Brickland calling him a slacker for the eight hundredth time. What he couldn’t deal with was Lance freaking Richmond.   
  
    “Got distracted by something shiny again, eh Fox?” Lance fiddled with a piece of his armor, the sunlight glinting off it. Aaron was fairly certain their training armor wasn’t even able to get that shiny.   
  
    “You aimed that at my eyes on purpose.” Aaron pushed himself up off the ground, plucking grass out of the joins in his uniform.   
  
    “So? Battle strategies, am I right?”   
  
    If Aaron didn’t always get in trouble for fighting dirty he’d have something to say to that. As it stood, Lance got away with everything.   
  
    “Listen, buddy,” Lance got far too close, putting a hand on his shoulder. “If you want me to help you get better at this all you need to do is ask. And, you know, maybe shine my armor now and then.”   
  
    “Not happening, Richmond.” Aaron smacked his hand away. “Go gloat somewhere else.”   
  
    “Not much to gloat about. Pretty sure everyone in our class has beaten you at least once.”   
  
    Aaron gritted his teeth. He didn’t dare throw the first punch. The principal was still there.   
  
    “But, again, I could help you change that.” Lance gave him a wink.   
  
    Aaron clenched his fist.  
  
    But he didn’t get to move. He saw Axl tap Lance on the shoulder. The pretentious prick turned around only for Axl to pick him up and hurl him across the field. He screamed as he soared through the air before finally crashing into the wooden target and hitting the ground.  
  
    “Would you look at that.” Axl rested his fists against his hips. “Perfect bullseye.”   
  
    Aaron glanced between him and Lance who was standing up, groaning. Brickland didn’t seem to bothered by it, giving a smirk and a nod before walking off.   
  
    Finally, Aaron smiled before he burst into laughter.   
  
\-------------------  
  
    That was all it took for Aaron to more or less attach himself to Axl’s hip. He was glad the other student didn’t seem bothered by it, or by his constant chatter. Aaron was excited to learn Axl also had a room on the campus. It was something the Academy often did for students who didn’t live in the kingdom.   
  
    But the first time he swung by to visit, he found himself rather shocked.   
  
    “What do you mean you don’t have any video games?” Aaron’s mouth hung open as he glanced around. He was surprised by how neat it was, actually. It was hard to place if he was just comparing it to his own room or assuming the big guy had the same messy habits.   
  
    “Never have.” Axl shrugged. “The town I’m from isn’t like Auremville.” He pulled a face. “Parents spent their money on more important things.”  
  
    Aaron wanted to make an argument that video games were important but he got what Axl was saying. “Okay, fair enough, but like, do you want to play some? I could totally bring my console over.”   
  
    Axl was staring at him again with that cryptic look. “Why don’t we just hang out in your room?”   
  
    “It’s uh, disaster zone.”  
  
    “Then you should clean it.”  
  
    Aaron smiled but cringed. “Eeeh, rather not.”   
  
    “Want me to help?”   
  
    He blinked, glancing up as if he hadn’t heard that correctly. “What? Dude you don’t need to do that.”   
  
    Axl shrugged. “I don’t really mind. Not much else to do on a weekend.”  
  
    “Um, video games.”   
  
    “After we clean your room.”  
  
    “I’m not making you clean up my stuff.”  
  
    “You’re not, I offered.” Axl nudged him out of the doorway and down the hall. “You buy us a pizza and I’ll help you clean your room. Deal?”   
  
    Yeah, Aaron supposed he could live with that. With the pizza on the way he turned on some music as well, blasting out of the speakers attached to his holovision.   
  
    For the first time in his life, cleaning something wasn’t that bad. 


	2. Chapter 2

    Aaron had been on decent behavior for a while. Hanging out with Axl gave him an outlet that he hadn’t had in a while. Two player video games were a wonder at relieving stress.   
  
    But that didn’t mean it could work every time.   
  
    It had been a long day. Everyone was tired by this point, especially when Brickland still had them outside training in the rain. Aaron couldn’t decide who was worse at being a team captain, Lance or Clay.  
  
    Clay was nice enough, outside of class. During training he was almost as bad as Brickland, going on tangents about strategies, formations, and a number of other things Aaron was fairly sure they hadn’t even learned yet.   
  
    Overachiever.   
  
    Sometimes Aaron wished he could learn that much with minimal effort.   
  
    It was teams of three, their other member being Macy. She was the one student Aaron didn’t dare cross in the wrong way. Sometimes he swore she actually had the ability to spit fire. She was the type of girl who would end a fight before it started.   
  
    “Aaron,” Clay waved that godforsaken battle manual around. “You keep forgetting formations.”  
  
    “Dude,” Aaron popped his elbow. “Memorizing all of those is impossible.”   
  
    “It’s not if you took the time to study them.”   
  
    He gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore that comment. “Yeah, okay, whatever. Sorry I actually know what sleep is.”   
  
    Clay was glaring at this point. “Funny you say that when I’ve heard you staying up until one in the morning playing video games with Axl.”   
  
    “Well it’s more productive than reading for seven hours straight.”  
  
    “Guys,” Macy moaned. “Please knock it off. Let’s just think of a new plan so Lance will stop that smug look of his.”   
  
    “I already have, the trick is getting Aaron to listen to it.”   
  
    Aaron pushed himself out of the wet grass. By now his muscles hurt. His stomach hurt from the number of times he’d been shoved over. He could feel a cramp in his palm from gripping this sword for too long.   
  
    “I can listen fine,” he spat as he stepped closer to Clay. “But if you haven’t noticed, plans tend to change as the battle does.”  
  
    “That’s what the back-up plans are for.”  
  
    “You really expect one person to memorize all of those?”   
  
    Macy sighed again. “Guys.”   
  
    “It’s not that hard.” Clay emphasized. “It’s not my fault you lack focus.”   
  
    “Shut it, Moorington.”   
  
    “No, you can’t carry an attitude like this if you want to be a knight. You have to overcome your shortcomings, not goof off and expect everyone else to–”   
  
_Wham!_  
  
    Aaron wasn’t really aware of what he was doing. His left arm snapped up, slamming the edge of his shield into Clay’s chin.   
  
    Pretentious, self absorbed, kiss-up. Who did Moorington think he was? It all just came to easy to him, like he had nothing else to think about but becoming a knight. Well good for him. It wasn’t Aaron’s fault he couldn’t get his head to focus. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t sit still in class. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t handle being idle. He’d tried so hard to just be like everyone else and all it resulted in was stress and a headache.   
  
    It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t asked for it to be like this.   
  
    “Aaron!”  
  
    Axl’s voice snapped him out of his trance. He had Clay pinned to the ground, his fist being blocked by the other student’s shield. Clay looked angry but also afraid.  
  
    Arms wrapped around his middle and pulled him back. At first he kicked and tried to free himself until he noticed it was Axl.   
  
    He let his muscles go slack, looking around to figure out what was going on. Clay sat up, rubbing his nose. It was bleeding. There was a clear bruise on his cheek and his chin. Looking over his injuries Aaron was now aware of a sharp pain in his jaw.   
  
    “Fox, Moorington.” Brickland stomped in between them. “Would either of you care to tell me what that was about? You’re supposed to be fighting with your team. Not against them.”   
  
    Lance was off to the side, snorting. “I’m surprised Fox nailed him that well. He usually can’t even hit the ground. With a sword, that is.”   
  
    Anger snapped back to life under his skin. Aaron tried to make a run for Lance but Axl’s grip tightened, shoving the air out of his lungs. The pressure didn’t help the lump that was forming in his throat. The frustration was making him dizzy.  
  
    “Close your mouth Richmond,” Brickland snapped. “I wasn’t asking you.”   
  
    “Sorry sir,” Clay stood up with Macy’s help. “I was trying to set up a new strategy. Aaron didn’t seem to agree.”   
  
    “Shut the hell up.” Aaron screamed. Almost everyone jumped. “Plans, plans, more plans, like everyone in this stupid class has the memory capacity you do. If you want to lead a team so badly why don’t you ever try actually listening to your team you brick-headed bastard.”   
  
    Silence fell over the field apart from the rain hitting the grass and his classmates armor. Macy’s mouth fell open. Clay’s eyes went wide. Even Lance had dropped his smug look in shock.   
  
    Aaron could feel himself shaking now. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.   
  
    Brickland began to advance on him but Axl took a step back.   
  
    “Brickland sir, I’m taking Aaron with me.”  
  
    “Oh no you don’t Axl. Not until this mess is sorted.”   
  
    Axl stopped and straightened up. Aaron twisted his head to try and get a read on his expression.  
  
    His friend’s voice got dangerously low. “I am taking Aaron with me.”   
  
    That made Brickland pause. He stared at Axl before glancing down at Aaron.  
  
    “We’ll be discussing this later, Fox.” He whirled around, snapping his cape behind him as he headed over to check on Clay.  
  
    Aaron didn’t get to hear what any of them were saying. Axl was already headed off the field toward the dorm building. Aaron struggled the whole time, trying to wiggle himself free, but his friend’s grip was unbelievable.   
  
    “Put me down,” he growled. “I’m not done with them yet.”  
  
    “Yes you are.”  
  
    “No I’m not. It’s about time someone kicked Moorington off his high horse. Who does he think he is?”  
  
    Axl didn’t respond to any of his ranting, and he didn’t let go until they were both in his dorm room. When he did put Aaron down he almost lost his footing. Adrenaline was still buzzing through his system and he tried to make a dart for the door only for Axl’s hand to slam into his chest.   
  
    “Let me go,” his attempts to fight back were feeble by now. He knew why, but he wanted to ignore it as long as possible. “He can’t keep saying stuff like that. I’m tired of him and everyone else treating me like a moron. I’m not stupid.”  
  
    “You’re not.”   
  
    Somehow those words made him freeze. His grip on Axl’s arm loosened as he looked up. Those eyes were as calm as ever, somehow looking right through him.  
  
    “I know it sucks.” Axl’s hand moved to rest on the top of his head. “But making Clay loose a tooth won’t help.”   
  
    Aaron gritted his teeth. The pressure hadn’t left his chest. “Nothing does Axl. No matter how hard I try I can’t make myself focus like they do. Maybe coming here really was a waste of time.”  
  
    “Why did you come here?”  
  
    Aaron sighed. “Because I wanted to get as far away from home as possible. And I don’t want to go back.”   
  
    Axl hummed.   
  
    “I know it’s dumb.”  
  
    “It’s not dumb, but it might make motivating yourself a bit harder.”  
  
    Aaron snorted. “What about you? Why did you come here?”  
  
    Axl’s expression softened. “Mom wanted me to have a chance at something better than my hometown has to offer. Said if this didn’t work out I could try something else.”   
  
    Aaron found himself pressing his forehead against Axl’s chest. His armor was cold and still wet from all the rain. “Your mom sounds cool.”   
  
    “She’s pretty great.”   
  
    “Wish my mom was like that. After her and my dad split she was never the same.” He felt his lips quivering and pressed them together. “Sorry, this is dumb.”   
  
    Axl wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Not it’s not.”   
  
    Aaron was always glad he never mentioned how hard he cried.   
  
\-----------------  
  
    “Start talking, Fox.” Brickland was sitting at his desk.  
  
    Aaron blinked. His eyes still felt dry from last night. He was exhausted. Who knew crying for almost an hour could do that.   
  
    The good news was his head was clearer than it had been in weeks.  
  
    “I’m tired of people treating me like an idiot. I’m tired of people treating me like I’m not trying. I’m trying to focus it just... doesn’t work.”   
  
    “Fox,” Brickland’s voice was calm at least. “If you’re struggling this much, are you sure you should be here?”   
  
    He gritted his teeth before remembering the bruise in his lower jaw. “No, but I’m not about to give up either.”   
  
    Brickland just studied him for a moment before nodding. “You and Clay both have cleaning duty instead of going to training for the next week. If you two start another fist fight during that time I’ll come up with something much worse.”  
  
    Aaron sighed, at least glad he wasn’t the only one in trouble. “Yes sir.”   
  
    “You’re dismissed.”   
  
    He turned to head back out and get ready for his first class.  
  
    “Fox?”  
  
    He glanced back at the principal. “Yes?”   
  
    “If you’re having trouble focusing, you might not want to try harder, just try smarter.”  
  
    “Excuse me?”   
  
    “I think you can figure it out.” Brickland waved him out.  
  
\-----------------  
  
    Clay was already in Merlock’s library when Aaron arrived. There was a stack of dust cloths and a couple of spray bottles. It was one of the few rooms in the castle that was still constructed with wood.   
  
    The pair shared and awkward stare before Aaron headed for one of the bottles. “Moorington.”   
  
    “Hey,” he was trying to sound friendly. “Didn’t uh, realize I punched you that hard.”   
  
    He looked at his classmate properly now. The bruise on his chin was still there. “Meh, seems like I deserved it.”   
  
    “N-no that’s not–I mean I was trying to get you off me but... I’ve never seen you fight that hard.”   
  
    “I mean, it’s probably not ideal.” Aaron headed over to one of the lifts. It was going to take hours to dust these shelves. “Doubt Brickland wants me breaking jaws every other day at practice.”   
  
    Clay let out a long sigh. “That’s not–sorry. I’m trying to talk about this.”  
  
    “I’d rather just get this room clean.”   
  
    “I’m sorry,” Clay darted after him, putting a foot on the lift to keep it from moving. “You were right, I should have been listening to you. I didn’t realize what I was saying upset you that much.”   
  
    Aaron studied Clay’s expression. He was being genuine, and while Aaron appreciated it he also wasn’t sure he was in a position to deal with this right now.   
  
    “Look Moorington,” Aaron sat down on the lift. “Not everyone here has the same drive that you do, or the same abilities. And, you know, it wouldn’t kill you to actually socialize with your classmates outside of training, get to know them. It’s important to know who the people on your team are, don’t you think?”  
  
    Clay frowned. “I don’t see you socializing much except with Axl.”   
  
    “Get with the program Moorington.” Aaron shoved his foot off and the lift started going up. “No one wants to socialize with me.”   
  
    For once Aaron was glad for the silence. He tried to keep his focus on cleaning. Taking out the books on the shelf before cleaning it out and putting them back on.  
  
    Third shelf in he found himself pausing on one about music with magical properties. He couldn’t read the text for anything.  
  
    “Hey,” Clay called up to him. “We’re supposed to be cleaning.”   
  
    Aaron glanced over the edge. His classmate was no longer looking at him, staring down at the shelf he was dusting.   
  
    He tossed the book over the side and smiled when it nailed Clay on the head.  
  
    “Hey,” the overachiever snapped.  
  
    “Don’t boss me around.” Aaron said before returning to his work.   
  
    “I’m trying to help. Or do you want to get in trouble again.”  
  
    “That’s for me to worry about. And you don’t help when you do that, you just sound like a jerk.”  
  
    “I don’t... really?”   
  
    Aaron’s fingers tapped against the book before he looked down again. “Yeah, you sound like a know it all. Like you’re supposed to be in charge, but we’re classmates.”   
  
    Clay opened his mouth but paused, his eyes glancing around. “Then... how can I help you focus without doing that?”   
  
    Well, Aaron would at least give him points for making an effort. He considered for a moment, glancing around the room. “Hey, you’re good at memorizing and organizing right?”   
  
    “I suppose.”   
  
    “Cool, because I might have found a way to get this room clean in half the time.”   
  
    “And that is?”  
  
    “I’ll toss books. You catch them and make sure they stay in order. Then we’ll sweep the shelves and get them clean before putting everything back.”   
  
    Clay frowned. “You sure that’ll work?”   
  
    “Please,” Aaron smiled. “It’ll work great, if you think you can keep up.”   
  
    Clay took the challenge.  
  
\-----------------  
  
    “No no, that one is an offensive set up. You need a defensive one.”   
  
    “What?” Aaron frowned and snatched the book out of Clay’s grip. “But there’s only five enemies. You could easily take them out.”  
  
    “That’s true, but taking them out isn’t your priority. It’s protecting the payload until it reaches the destination.”   
  
    “Destroying the enemies would be protecting it.”   
  
    Clay opened his mouth before he sighed. “You’re not wrong, but that’s not quite the point.”   
  
    “Ugh, this sounds like math class when I get the right answer but the teacher lectures me ‘cause I didn’t do the right process.”   
  
    Clay blinked. “You can figure out math that way?”  
  
    “Sure, there’s all kinds of ways to solve algebra.”   
  
    The conversation was cut off when Brickland opened the door to Merlock’s library. “Hey, I told you two to make sure those shelves are spotless.”  
  
    “They are,” Aaron frowned. “You can check yourself if you want.”  
  
    Brickland didn’t check them all, but he did a sweep around the lower part of the room, running his gloves along the surface of the wood. For a second he actually looked impressed.   
  
    “Alright, you’re free to go. Hope you can keep this up for the rest of the week.” He left the room without another comment.  
  
    Aaron closed the book and got up. Time to go chill out for a bit. He hadn’t seen Axl all day.   
  
    “Aaron, wait,” Clay interrupted his trek to the door.  
  
    “What?”  
  
    “I... I know I’m probably a lousy tutor, but would you like to work together on these battle formations? Or weapon training in general?”   
  
    Aaron’s first instinct way to say no, but he could tell Clay wasn’t trying to be a jerk. “I’ll think about it.” 


	3. Chapter 3

    Aaron never had an affinity for bows and arrows. In fact, if you had asked him on his first day at the Academy what his favorite weapon was, he would have told you it was duel swords.   
  
    But after listening to Lance taunt his inability to hit a target for what had to be the fifth hundredth time he became determined to improve his aim.  
  
    And he was determined to do it with one of the trickiest weapons they had.   
  
    The big problem was in the fact that first years weren’t even supposed to touch anything outside of short hand weapons. They were supposed to focus on team battles, hand to hand combat, long range weapons weren’t even a factor.   
  
    His solution? Wake up early and sneak out to the range. The door was locked, but not when you swiped a teacher’s key card. At first he thought it would go inactive when they got a new one, but it still worked just fine.   
  
    The problem, he quickly found, is aiming these bows was even harder than it looked.   
  
    He couldn’t even put a mark into the wood, much less hit any of the targets.   
  
    Not that he gave up. He kept up his routine. Wake up before the sun, practice, clean it up before the teachers showed up, go to class, play games with Axl, then sleep for a few hours before starting it over again.  
  
    He hadn’t told Axl, although he swore his friend was more than capable of reading his mind. He’d often commented on Aaron’s dark circles or how he was sleeping in class even more than usual. A teacher had gotten fed up enough to throw his laser pointer at him.   
  
    But the charade couldn’t stick. He should have known.   
  
    It all fell apart because of his history class. Figures. Not that he realized it until it was almost midnight. He had beat Axl in another round of their air racing game before checking his phone and realizing what day it was.  
  
    That report was due tomorrow.  
  
    He almost spat out his soda. No, no, how could he forget that? Crap. He had barely done anything on it apart from pick out the books for his subject.   
  
    “What’s wrong?” Axl put his hand on Aaron’s head to keep him from rocking back and forth.  
  
    “That history paper is due tomorrow.”  
  
    “You haven’t done it?”  
  
    “No! I forgot I hadn’t... oh god, I’m dead. I have to get that done right now.” Aaron shot up and dashed over to his computer. He opened the word processor and one of the books but his thoughts were moving to fast for him to focus on any of the text. What was he going to do? There’s no way he could focus long enough to get this done in one night.   
  
    Axl’s hand was on top of his head again. “Relax, what do you have so far.”  
  
    “My topic and my research materials.”   
  
    Axl hummed, grabbing one of the other books. By now the pages that had what he needed were already bookmarked, but he hadn’t taken the time to comb through the information.   
  
    “Write the introduction.” Axl opened the book.   
  
    “Huh? Write what?”  
  
    “Anything.”   
  
    Aaron grumbled, smashing his fingers on the keyboard.  
  
    Axl laughed. “Not like that. You have a vague idea of what you’re writing, don’t you?”  
  
    “Sure.”   
  
    “Then just write something. You can always make it sound fancy later.”  
  
    Somehow Aaron had never considered that. His first sentence sounded academic, but after that he started tossing around curse words and making things sound far simpler than they should. He ended the paragraph with “I am going to hate this.”   
  
    Axl was laughing again. “See? Progress. Okay so if that’s the first bit of your introduction your next paragraph should be on that.” He handed over the book. “Don’t forget to add the page numbers as you go, makes it easier later.”   
  
    Aaron snorted, reading over the page before typing up a couple of sentences. “When did you learn all these essay tips?”  
  
    “They aren’t my strong suit either.” Axl shrugged. “I found ways to work around it.”   
  
    Aaron paused for a moment. Brickland’s advice buzzed around in his mind.  
  
    He didn’t need to work harder.  
  
    He needed to work smarter.   
  
    He smiled. “Axl, you’re a genius.”   
  
    “Why thank you. Keep working, I’m going to get some snacks. Do you want coffee or an energy drink?”   
  
    “Hell yes,” he cracked his knuckles and went back to typing. “Let’s ace this shit.”   
  
\---------------  
  
    It took until 4 AM for him to finish the essay. Between typing it all up, doing the Works Cited, and editing it until it was appropriate to turn in, Aaron passed out immediately after.   
  
    He was almost late to his first class. So much for training. He decided to do it late at night instead, after playing some games.   
  
    A foolish decision.   
  
    He got into the range without a hitch. He easily loaded up the crossbow and set up the targets, but only got three shots off before the door flew open.  
  
    His heart stopped and then dropped to his stomach when he saw Principal Brickland standing there in the dark hallway. Aaron would have sworn Death had come for him.   
  
    He made a feeble effort to hide the bow behind him.   
  
    “Fox.” Brickland’s voice echoed down the range as he stepped into the room. He didn’t look any less intimidating in the light. “What the hell is going on here?”   
  
    Aaron opened his mouth. Normally he’d have a quick excuse or a story but there was no way in hell to cover his ass this time.   
  
    “I knew we’d been having sudden shortages in ammo, has that been you the whole time? How in the blazes did you even get in here?”   
  
    Aaron swallowed. With a shaky hand he pulled out the key card.   
  
    Brickland snatched it before grabbing the crossbow as well. He quickly checked it over and disengaged it. By now his face was turning red. “Stealing a key card? Using weapons without permission? Wandering around campus at this hour? You’d better start explaining before I drag you out of here by your ears and send you on a railcar straight home!”   
  
    Yelling, too much yelling. He opened his mouth but he couldn’t breath. His muscles felt stiff but his body wouldn’t stop shaking.   
  
    He’d screwed up again. He was done for.   
  
    The clatter of the bow against the floor made him flinch, but he still didn’t move.   
  
    “Fox? Aaron? Hey, look at me.”   
  
    He blinked once, twice, before his hazy vision finally came into focus. Brickland’s angry expression was gone, much softer now as he stood there with his arms crossed.   
  
    “Aaron, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. What’s going on?”   
  
    “I-I,” he cursed himself for stuttering and swallowed. “I just... I got fed up with the others taunting my inability to aim.”  
  
    “So you decided to practice with a _crossbow_?”   
  
    Aaron didn’t have an excuse for that either so he just shrugged. “Go big or go home.”   
  
    Brickland stared at him in shock. Then he burst into laughter. It was loud, booming, almost shaking the walls.   
  
    “Fox, you are without a doubt one of the strangest students I’ve ever taught.”   
  
    Aaron frowned. “Thanks?”   
  
    “Haven’t had someone mad enough to break rules like this since, well, me.” He shrugged and picked the crossbow back up. “You really want to use this?”   
  
    His nerves vanished and he straightened up. “Yes sir.”   
  
    “Fine, I’ll let you, with a few conditions.”   
  
    “Yes?”  
  
    “One,” Brickland held up a finger. “No more breaking in here. Two, no more training unsupervised. You shoot your eye out and there’s no one around what do you think happens?”   
  
    Aaron cringed and glanced at the singe marks on the wall.   
  
    “So,” Brickland rested the crossbow on his shoulder. “I’ll meet you here on weekdays, seven PM sharp, don’t be late. Understood?”   
  
    Excitement rushed through his system. He barely was able to keep himself from jumping through the air. Instead he stomped his foot and straightened up again. “Yes sir!”   
  
    “Good, now get the hell out of here and get some sleep. You’ve got more dark circles than Moorington.”   
  
    “Yes sir. I won’t disappoint you, sir.” Aaron grinned as he ran out of the room.  
  
\----------------  
  
    Brickland was always a harsh teacher. Aaron knew this, was used to it, but sometimes it got frustrating. It was strange, however, he didn’t yell during archery training like he did at the other students out in the field. Was it something about working one on one?   
  
    “At least you hit the wood this time.” Brickland frowned as he inspected the target. “But not good enough. Reload, try again.”   
  
    Some days Aaron lost count of how many rounds he fired.  
  
    He later debated if hitting the target was actually a good thing. He cheered for a while. Cheered even louder when he nailed a bullseye.  
  
    “Good job, Fox.” Brickland brought up the control panel. With the tap of a few buttons, five targets appeared from the ceiling, moving left and right. “Now hit those.”   
  
    He couldn’t even hit one before the end of the day.   
  
    The biggest downside to all this extra training is it cut into his game time with Axl. By the time he was done was too tired to do anything besides crash in bed. There was still the weekends, of course, but it wasn’t the same.   
  
    “Sorry I’m so absent.” He’d said more than once. Sometimes it felt like Axl hadn’t been in his room in a month.    
  
    “Where do you keep going?” Axl frowned. “You didn’t get in trouble again, did you?”  
  
    Aaron was too distracted to focus on the game properly as he died for the fifth time. “Sort of, I guess.”   
  
    “Why can’t you tell me?”   
  
    He wasn’t sure that he couldn’t. Brickland hadn’t exactly made it out to be a secret.   
  
    “Doing extra stuff for combat practice.” Is all he would say.   
  
    Day by day he found himself getting more exhausted. Training wasn’t the only thing, after all. He sometimes had to pull all nighters over homework and essays. Math might come easy, even easier now that he found a way to pace his breaks in a way that he didn’t completely forget to finish it, but history still didn’t. Reading material that didn’t interest him was always a struggle. Eight words in and he could feel his brain trying to ascend to whatever was on the roof.   
  
    Reading it out loud only took him so far.   
  
    As they got farther into the semester his workload only grew. One weekend he couldn’t even play video games as he attempted to get some stuff finished early so it didn’t destroy him as he trained next week.   
  
    That Wednesday he ended up crashing.   
  
    It was after training, at least. When he managed to at least hit all the moving targets Brickland only upped the ante. They were holo targets this time, some moving slow, some moving fast, but none of them moving the same way. There were ten and hitting them all wasn’t enough. If he wasn’t fast enough they would reset.   
  
    His arm hurt. His fingers hurt. Three times his hand cramped up from the amount of times he pulled the trigger. The entire time Brickland hovered behind him, criticizing his aim or his speed.   
  
    “Come on Fox, we haven’t even gotten to the point where you have to start moving. Stop trying to fire faster and focus on hitting your targets.”   
  
    Brickland didn’t let up until he saw how much Aaron’s arm was shaking. No point in trying to aim like that.   
  
    Aaron initially planned to go back to his room and crash, like he always did, but somehow or another he wound up wandering to Axl’s. He kept his hand pressed against his forearm, the muscles still aching.   
  
    He tapped on the door. It only took seconds for it to open, Axl raising an eyebrow.   
  
    “Hey,” Aaron looked down at the floor. “Is this a bad time?”   
  
    In response, Axl just stepped aside, letting Aaron wander in. The holovision was on, some kind of cooking show. He glanced at Axl’s desk to see a half eaten cake.   
  
    “Yo, what? Where did you get that?”  
  
    “My mom sent it.”   
  
    “Aw, man, that looks amazing. Lucky.”  
  
    “You want a slice?”  
  
    Aaron spun around, eyes wide. “Can I?”  
  
    “Sure,” Axl leaned toward him, narrowing his eyes. “If you tell me what’s going on.”   
  
    Aaron’s smile fell. “That’s a dirty move.”   
  
    His friend just shrugged. “Up to you.”   
  
    He pouted and crossed his arms. “It’s not a big deal, dude.”  
  
    “Liar.” Axl put his hand on Aaron’s head, rolling it side to side as he spoke. “You’re always tired, too tired for even video games. You space out even more than usual. And what happened to your arm?” Axl suddenly grabbed it and jerked on it.   
  
    Aaron screeched and wrenched himself free, barely able to flex his hand. “Nothing.”   
  
    Axl just kept staring right through him.  
  
    He let out a defeated sigh. “I told you, combat training. Specifically, Brickland is helping me learn how to fire a bow.”   
  
    “And this is a secret because...”  
  
    “Because it’s not a big deal, I told you.” Aaron headed over to the bed and sat down. “I just want to get good enough to kick Lance to the curb before the semester is over.”   
  
    Axl hummed, that knowing hum, that hum that means “yeah, okay, whatever”. It took Aaron ages to figure out what it meant, but now that he knew it irritated him to no end.  
  
    Not that he had anything he could say to combat it.   
  
    But true to his word Axl went to grab him some cake.   
  
    “Besides, if I can do this and manage to keep my history grade from slipping back down to a failing, maybe Brickland will let me move up.”   
  
    “That desperate to avoid going home, huh?” Axl handed him the paper plate. No plastic ware.   
  
    Aaron snatched a bit of the pastry with his fingers and bit into it. It was chocolate, with a little something else he couldn’t identify. A tad dry but still delicious. “What, you think I should just quit and do that instead?”   
  
    “I think,” Axl sat down next to him. “You should find other reasons for being here.”  
  
    “Axl, if you spent an hour around my parents you’d know why I don’t want to go back.”   
  
    “Hiding from them won’t fix your relationship.”  
  
    Aaron almost spat out his food as he turned to glare. “I don’t care. I don’t care about either my parents, okay?”   
  
    His friend didn’t flinch. He just stared. “I think you do.”   
  
    Aaron straightened up. Anger flared in his throat and he wished so desperately he could say something.  
  
    But he couldn’t. As usual Axl was right. As usual he saw right through him.   
  
    He lowered the plate onto his lap, chewing on more cake and not saying anything. It really was good. Bit by bit it reminded him of all the desserts his mother used to make. He remembered the crowded tables. His father, his mother, and his four sisters. Even if Abbie had only been one at the time. They’d always cheer when something sweet came out of the kitchen, his mother beaming with pride.   
  
    His eyes fogged up. The lump in his throat made it hard to swallow.   
  
    “Things aren’t ever going to be like they used to.” Aaron put another piece in his mouth just to have something to fidget with. “Doesn’t matter if I’m homesick. It doesn’t exist anymore.”   
  
    “What even happened?” Axl said.  
  
    “I’ve got four siblings. Mom was getting overwhelmed and my dad was always busy with work. She often falls back to saying she split from him because she wanted to live somewhere else and he wouldn’t move, but I know there’s more to it than that. She agreed to joint custody, but with how far we moved it was hard to actually meet up with my dad.”   
  
    Aaron sighed and handed the rest of the cake to Axl. “Not that I got along with my dad any better after the incident. At that age I couldn’t figure out why they split up that easily.”   
  
    Axl ate the rest of the cake before tossing the plate in the trash. “You want to come see my family during break?”   
  
    Aaron glanced up at him. “Really?”   
  
    “Sure, Mom would be excited. She runs the inn there you know. Just watch out for my sister. She crushes pretty easily.”   
  
    “Psh, of course.” Aaron pretended to flex. “Nobody could resist getting a piece of this.”   
  
    The hum Axl made this time held a lot more humor. His gaze, however, held something Aaron couldn’t possibly read.  
  
    He was too tired anyway. His long yawn gave it away.   
  
    He didn’t remember much after that. Only that he was woken up by Axl’s alarm and found himself using his friend’s chest as a pillow.   
  
    Axl didn’t comment. Aaron didn’t either.   
  
    He decided to take it as an excuse to lean against his friend far more often.  
  
\---------------  
  
    It took another week for Aaron to manage to hit all ten targets.   
  
    After that Brickland had them change locations. The original plan was for him to hit ten more while riding a mecha steed.   
  
    He somehow convinced Brickland to let him use his hoverboard instead. Not that it made it any easier. Once again he had a time limit. Stopping wasn’t allowed. If he missed the target on the first run down he just had to turn and run down the course again.   
  
    “You know, I get why we do this.” Aaron muttered as he landed. “But it kinda feels like I’m not getting any better.”   
  
    Brickland stared at him. “Fine then, keeping your feet on the ground, hit as many targets as you can.”   
  
    Aaron glanced down the course. The last four at the end seemed a little too far for him to hit but he shrugged and reloaded his bow.   
  
    He hit a bullseye on all of them except the last two.   
  
    “Whoa,” he stared at the scorch marks on the wood. “I didn’t even have to try.”   
  
    “Exactly. If you can nail moving targets, you can hit stationary ones. Now, back on the hoverboard and run it again.”   
  
\----------------  
  
    Aaron grinned as he stretched next to Axl who was waiting on the bench. Teams of three today, but for the first time in a while Aaron had a good feeling about this.  
  
    And thankfully, Lance was on the other side.  
  
    “Ready to kick some shiny metal ass today, bro?”   
  
    “You’re awfully confident.” Axl smiled.  
  
    “Training’s got me all pumped up. I’ve got a good feeling about this.”   
  
    “Good,” Clay finally came over. “But having a strategy still helps.”  
  
    “I know, I know,” Aaron frowned as he looked over at the other team. “Feel bad for Macy though. She’s not gonna throw the match for us, is she?”  
  
    Clay chuckled. “As much as she hates Lance she hates losing even more.”   
  
    Yeah, that was believable.   
  
    “So,” Clay began. “Knowing their team I figured the best way through is–”  
  
    Aaron held up a hand. “Hold it, before you get carried away, I might have a way to win this match in record time.”  
  
    Clay frowned. “You think so?”   
  
    “Yup, Axl, you know how to do a shield boost right?”  
  
    His friend frowned for a moment before picking up his shield and holding it up.  
  
    “Yeah! Like that, the thing where you let your teammate jump off it.”   
  
    “Aaron,” Clay grabbed his shoulder. “What are you planning?”  
  
    “Okay, listen close,” he tugged on them both as they huddled together. “Because if this goes right, I think Lance might cry.”   
  
\----------------  
  
    Aaron lowered the visor on his helmet, keeping his gaze fixed on the opposite team. Brickland had yet to start the match and he could feel the tension rising. Right now the field was dark, the sky grey from all the cloud cover. Could possibly be more rain.   
  
    He gripped his sword tighter. “You guys ready?”  
  
    “I hope this crazy plan works.” Clay said. “You sure this is even legal?”  
  
    “Come on, I thought you always studied the rules.” He let himself smirk for a change. He had a good feeling about this.   
  
    Brickland blew the whistle.   
  
    The other team charged, splitting in three directions, just like Aaron figured. Clay and Axl ran out to cut them off from the sides.  
  
    Step one, force them to cluster together again.   
  
    Clay was, without a doubt, the best at close combat. Axl was a wall. Between the two of them Macy and Pike couldn’t make an ounce of progress.  
  
    That just left Lance.   
  
    Aaron darted forward and planted his heels in the dirt as he blocked Lance’s sword. The prick leaned closer, that smirk still on his face.   
  
    “Ready to lose again, Fox?”  
  
    “Funny, I’m not the one with two people headed for my target.”   
  
    Lance glanced back to see how far his teammates were being pushed.   
  
    Aaron used the distraction, shoving the shinier knight back before landing a kick to his stomach.   
  
    Lance hit the grass and Aaron got far too much satisfaction at seeing dirt smear on his armor.   
  
    “Think you can get past me before Moorington reaches that target?”   
  
    He saw Clay make a dash for the target out of the corner of his eye, only to be caught by Macy. Pike darted closer to the target, likely to keep anyone from getting close.   
  
    Lance snorted, but moved to regroup with his team.  
  
    Aaron was lucky Clay was considered that much of a threat. He shared a glance with his teammate who gave him a nod. Clay tossed Macy off of him, feigning for the target once more only to be cut off by Lance.  
  
    Step two, get into position.   
  
    Clay was good, there was never any doubt. So far no one else in this class could fight three people at once and keep everyone on their toes. Macy tackled him to the ground. He rolled onto his back and kicked her off, swinging his sword at Pike’s ankles. She let out a light scream as she jumped back.   
  
    “Knock it off, Moorington.” Lance stomped on Clay’s shoulder. “You’re not going to reach our target.”   
  
    Aaron heard Clay laugh. “I’m not trying to.”   
  
    By now Axl was more than ready, crouching in the grass with his shield up. Aaron didn’t hesitate to run for it, gripping his sword tighter just in case.  
  
    He hadn’t tested this at all.   
  
    Oh well.  
  
    Aaron jumped. The moment his foot pressed down on the shield Axl launched him up as he leapt forward.  
  
    It was much faster than he expected, making it turn into more of a dive than a graceful leap.   
  
    Still, at this height he had a clear path to the target, but there wasn’t any time to land and strike it. Lance was already running for it.   
  
    Aaron turned his body, his eyes never leaving the target. It was a sword, not a crossbow, but he couldn’t afford to miss.   
  
    He twisted his shoulders back as he hurled his weapon at the wooden panel.   
  
     _Thunk!_  
  
    Everything moved too fast after that. He couldn’t stick the landing, crashing onto the ground before he could see where the sword hit. He scrambled to get back up, spitting out the dirt caught on his lip.   
  
    Bullseye.   
  
    “Huh, new record.” Brickland was smiling off to the side as he stared at his stopwatch. “Nice work.”   
  
    “What?” Lance shouted as he straightened up. “There’s no way that counts.”  
  
    “You never said we could throw our swords.” Macy complained.   
  
    “You never asked.” Brickland shrugged. “The only rules for these matches is to hit the other teams target while protecting your own. As long as you aren’t knocking out teeth, I don’t care what you do.”   
  
    Macy stomped her feet in the dirt before kicking at the grass. Lance seemed dumbstruck, mouth hanging open in a goofy expression.  
  
    Aaron snorted before he laughed, brushing the dirt off as he stood. “Suck on that one, Richmond.”   
  
    Lance spun toward him. “You’re a dirty cheater, Fox.”  
  
    “Nope, that was completely within the rules.” Clay was smirking too. “New formation too. I think we should call it the Flying Fox.”   
  
    “Hey, that’s a good one.” Axl stepped up behind Aaron.   
  
    Lance hadn’t stopped glaring. Once again it felt like a fight was going to break out before Brickland blew his whistle again.  
  
    “All right, enough celebrating. I’ve got something new for us to try today. All of you go grab a target.”   
  
    The crowd began to disperse and Aaron moved to follow them only to feel a hand catch his shoulder. He turned to see Brickland staring down at him.  
  
    “Not you, Fox.”  
  
    “Huh? Why not?”   
  
    Something bumped into his arm. Glancing down he saw a training crossbow, ammo already loaded.  
  
    His mouth fell open and he dropped his sword. With his now free hand he took the weapon, checking it over before meeting Brickland’s gaze.  
  
    “Sir?”   
  
    The teacher seemed to ignore him as he blew on his whistle once more. “All right slackers, here’s the deal. You each have a target. Fox’s goal is to hit it. Your goal is to protect it.”   
  
    “Is this a joke?” Lance set his target in the dirt and leaned against it. “He got lucky with a sword throw. We haven’t even been trained on crossbows. What makes you think _he_ can hit these?”   
  
    “Underestimating your opponent is always a mistake, Richmond. I thought we went over this.”   
  
    Lance just snorted and rolled his eyes.   
  
    Brickland’s eye twitched. “Tell you what then. If you can protect your target for just a single minute I’ll give you the rest of the day off.”  
  
    Lance brightened up at that, his godforsaken smirk returning. “What? Just one minute? That seems too easy, doesn’t it?”   
  
    Brickland didn’t say anything. He just glanced at Aaron and gestured toward the target.   
  
    Aaron smiled. He lowered his visor, fixing his eyes on the target that Lance was still standing to the right off.  
  
    Bam, bullseye.   
  
    Lance flinched from the impact. Clay gasped.   
  
    “Hey,” the show-off snatched up his shield. “I wasn’t ready.”   
  
    “Okay,” Aaron shrugged and stepped in line. “Tell me when you’re ready.”   
  
    “This really isn’t that hard.” Lance held up his shield. “From this angle you can’t even–”  
  
    Aaron shot at Lance’s shin. The impact was enough to surprise his classmate and make him duck.  
  
    Bam, another bullseye.   
  
    “Start over.” Brickland was looking at his timer again. “Come on Richmond, you haven’t even reached ten seconds yet.”   
  
    “He’s cheating.”   
  
    “The only rule is to protect your target.” Brickland wandered over to the equipment. He crouched down to grab something that was resting at the back of the weapon shed.   
  
    A hoverboard.  
  
    Aaron was full on beaming now, trying not to jump from foot to foot. His giddiness had him giggling instead.   
  
    “You have to be kidding me.” Lance said as Brickland handed the hoverboard to Aaron.  
  
    He hopped on without hesitation, cheering as it took him into the air. He did a couple of flips before checking over his crossbow once more.   
  
    “Hey Richmond, you ready yet?” He smiled down at him. “Ready to feel the sting?”   
  
    He heard Macy groan at the line, but could also hear Axl laughing.   
  
    “Oh bring it on, Fox.” Lance glared as he readied his shield. “You can’t have gotten that good.”   
  
\----------------  
  
    An hour later Lance finally gave up. He literally pulled out a white handkerchief from who knew where and waved it in the air as he lay face down on the ground.   
  
    Aaron grinned. The rest of the class was cheering. By now his hand was cramping up again, but it was worth it. He’d hit the target so many times the bullseye was nothing but a black mark.   
  
    He landed his hoverboard and hopped off next to Lance. Then he crouched down before patting him on the head.  
  
    “Aw, don’t feel too bad Richmond. I could help you get better if you ask, and, you know, maybe polish my armor now and then.”   
  
    Axl’s booming laughter cut out whatever Lance was groaning into the dirt. Aaron looked back at his friend, smiling wider.  
  
    Wasn’t often he heard him laugh like that. For a guy who always seemed to be in a good mood, not much made him laugh.   
  
    Aaron jumped up and pretended he didn’t skip over to him. “So? How as that? Pretty badass?”   
  
    “Hell yeah it was.” Macy almost shoved Axl to the side. “When did you even learn to use that?”   
  
    “Oh, you know, when I get free time.”   
  
    “Careful,” Clay’s expression was amused. “Or I’ll start to think you’re copying me.”   
  
    Aaron figured he could sit with this kind of praise for hours, at least until it was interrupted.  
  
    “Fox,” Brickland gestured him over. He hesitated to move but did as he was told, handing off the crossbow.   
  
    “Thank you, sir, for letting me use that.”   
  
    “Don’t thank me.” Brickland handed him another one, a much nicer one. It definitely wasn’t a training model, that was for sure. “Thank yourself.”  
  
    His jaw fell open again. “Wha– Sir is this...?”   
  
    “Yup, she’s yours. Find you misusing her I’ll make sure you never see another one again, got it?”  
  
    He stood up straight. “Yes sir!”   
  
    “And training ammo only. We don’t need you accidentally putting a hole in someone. Am I clear?”  
  
    “Yes!”   
  
    “Good.”  
  
    “Sir?”  
  
    “What?”  
  
    “Can I hug you?”   
  
    Brickland froze. He stared at Aaron for the longest time before looking past him at what was probably their other classmates. The waiting was killing him. His fingers plucked at the bow-string, listening to the sounds it made.   
  
    Then his teacher sighed before he nodded.   
  
    Aaron shouted with joy as he jumped forward, hugging the principal as tightly as he could. Granted, it wasn’t all that tight considering the armor was in the way. Brickland groaned. A couple of his classmates were laughing.   
  
    Finally Aaron let go, standing up straight again. “I won’t let you down sir, promise.”   
  
    Brickland shook his head, regaining his composure. “I know you won’t, Fox. I’m proud of you.”   
  
     _I’m proud of you._  
  
    The words buzzed around in his head. Aaron swore someone must have just injected caffeine, sugar, and whatever other horrifying chemicals they used in energy drinks right into his blood stream. He couldn’t keep himself from bouncing.  
  
    “Can I hug you again?”  
  
    “No! Class is dismissed. All of you kids, bugger off!”   
  
\-----------------  
  
    “It’s so cool,” Macy practically swooned. “Can I hold it?”  
  
    After training they all moved to Aaron’s room with the assumption they’d play a few games to celebrate. They already ordered a pizza, and Axl had gone down to get them some drinks.   
  
    Aaron handed over his new crossbow. Macy beamed, smiling wide enough to show her missing canine as she glanced over the weapon. She pointed it toward the wall, closing an eye as she stared down her imaginary target.  
  
    “Both eyes open.” Aaron said. “You aim better.”   
  
    “I still can’t believe Brickland was training you on this for over a month.” Clay shook his head.  
  
    “Hey, sometimes breaking the rules and taking risks yields good results.” Aaron shrugged. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”   
  
    “Maybe if I really think it’s necessary.”   
  
    Axl came into the room, arms full of sodas he nabbed from the snack machine. Macy handed Aaron back his crossbow as she jumped up to grab one, helping Axl put the rest on the table.   
  
    “Pizza not here yet?” Axl frowned.  
  
    “Not yet big guy. What game should we play?”   
  
    “I’m down for anything that lets me punch you guys in the face.” Macy turned on the console. “You got a preference, Clay?”   
  
    He rubbed the back of his neck, giving off a sheepish grin. “I’ve uh... never actually played any video games.”  
  
    Everyone in the room gasped. Aaron froze halfway through opening his can of soda.  
  
    “What? Dude you have to be kidding.”  
  
    “Merlock never owned any.” Clay glanced to the side. “The only game he taught me to play was chess.”   
  
    “Well, we’re changing that right now.” Aaron scrambled over to the holoscreen to find the right game. “We’ll start with one that has simple controls.”  
  
    “But Aaron, that one’s only two player.” Macy complained.  
  
    “We’ll just take turns.” As the game loaded up he sat back, handing Clay one of the controllers. “Rules for this are simple. First one to lose all their health loses the round. It’s typically best two out of three.”   
  
    As soon as Axl sat down behind him Aaron scooted back farther to sit on his lap. He wasn’t unaware of the flash of confusion on Macy’s face.   
  
    “I’m sorry,” Clay frowned as his icon on the character selection screen hovered over one of the female characters. “But what is she wearing? That isn’t good protection during battle at all.”  
  
    “It’s bad character design.” Macy rolled her eyes. “But her combos can be pretty wild if you pull them off.”   
  
    “Just pick someone dude,” Aaron leaned back. Now that he had a chance to relax, his muscles reminded him of how sore he actually was. His shoulders probably had it the worst.   
      
    But Axl was warm and comfy and quickly made him forget about it.   
  
    When the round started he held up his controller so Clay could see it. “Okay so this is your basic attack. This one is jump, and this one is dodge. You can hit the attack button mid jump to do a different attack. Land enough hits and you get a combo. Make sense so far?”   
  
    He watched in amusement as Clay hit the buttons. His eyebrows were pressed together like he was trying to ace his pop quiz in science class.   
  
    “Ready?” Aaron pulled his controller back. “Cause here comes the sting.”  
  
    “No,” Clay protested. “I am not ready. Aaron!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do we ever see Clay playing video games in the show? This boy needs more hobbies.


	4. Chapter 4

    Aaron rolled back and forth on his feet as he tapped the buzzer on Brickland’s office door. If it was shut that often meant he was busy or already meeting someone. Most times that would be a blessing, but the sooner Aaron got this meeting over with the sooner he could stop stressing out.  
  
    Well, apart from that final science project he still hadn’t finished.  
  
    “Come in,” Brickland called out.   
  
    Aaron hit the latch and the door slid open. He peeked into the office before stepping inside. Usually he was far too nervous to take in the wall decorations, most of them weapons, some of them ancient. What were those old crossbows even supposed to fire?  
  
    “Fox, I told you we’re taking the week off while I catch up on paperwork.” Even now Brickland scrawled his signature on something before putting it in a pile.   
  
    “No, no, I know. I just um... I wanted to ask how it’s looking, about me moving up next year.”   
  
    Brickland finally looked up at him, expression unreadable. He dropped his pen and brought up his holoscreen. Aaron could see his photo on the screen, but couldn’t read whatever the text said from this angle. His principal seemed to muse over it, tugging at his beard.   
  
    “Huh, your grade in history got way higher.”  
  
    “Uh, yeah, got lucky with some papers.”  
  
    “I don’t believe in luck, Fox.” He kept scrolling for a bit before shutting the screen door. “Stick it out the final stretch and I’d say yes, you’re moving up.”   
  
    Weight floated off his shoulders. For a second he swore he’d wound up on his hoverboard. “Really?”  
  
    “I don’t know why you’re surprised.” Brickland grabbed another form and began to fill it out. “You put in a lot of effort this semester. I’d hope it would pay off.”   
  
    “Not sure learning a crossbow really counts.”   
  
    The pen clattered against the desk again. “It’s not just the crossbow, and I think you know that.”   
  
    “Right, and I stopped rigging the water fountains.” His mind scanned over the amount of pranks and tricks he’d pulled over the year. “Why did you even agree to teach me?”   
  
    “You’re a risk taker, Fox. Young and stupid right now, maybe, but sometimes risks work out. Besides, I was just as troublesome as you were when I was going to school.” With the pen between his hands Brickland tapped on the desk. “And I’m not unaware as to why you’re like that.”   
  
    Aaron bit his lip and looked to the side.  
  
    “Also, I enjoy seeing Richmond lose his facade now and then.”   
  
    He managed a smile. “Used me to get to Lance, huh?”  
  
    “That’s not what I said, Fox. Now get out of here and stay out of trouble. I’ve got work to do.”   
  
    He let it go for now. No need to push the old man only to ruin everything. He headed out of the door before glancing back.  
  
    “Um, thanks again, for everything.”   
  
    “You can thank me when you graduate.”   
  
\---------------  
  
    “Axl, come on.” Aaron pouted as he stuffed the last of his clothes into his bag.  
  
    “No,” His friend was blocking the door, arms crossed. “You aren’t coming with me until you tell your mom.”  
  
    “I don’t want to talk to her.”  
  
    “You don’t have to. You just have to tell her where you’re going.”   
  
    He let out a long sigh. “Axl, you don’t understand.”  
  
    “Maybe I don’t, but I know if you run off without telling her it’s just going to cause trouble for everyone later.”   
  
    Once again his friend was right. Once again he couldn’t find a way to argue with him. Knowing his mom she’d contact the school, or even come here herself to find him. After that a rain of fire in the form of red hair would wind up at Axl’s doorstep.   
  
    “Fine, fine, I’ll call her okay? After we get to the rail station.”  
  
    Axl narrowed his eyes.  
  
    “I promise. I just... want to think about what to say.”   
  
    That seemed satisfactory enough. With everything packed up Axl helped him carry it to the station.   
  
    Well, more like Axl carried most of it on his shoulder while Aaron just had his back pack.   
  
    “Sure you don’t want me to get that, big guy?”   
  
    “Psh, you kidding? It weighs less than my uncle’s pigs.”   
  
    “Guess that explains a lot.”   
  
    It was nothing but silence on the walk to the station. Macy caught up with them at one point, saying she looked forward to next year, but it was a brief conversation. Her mother showed up to drag her back to the castle.   
  
    The station was busy, a number of other students sitting and waiting on their rides home. Aaron tried to settle down on the bench only for Axl to jerk him back on his feet.   
  
    “Nope, go tell your mom.”   
  
    “Axl...”  
  
    “Now.” His friend shoved him toward the hallway.   
  
    He found himself pouting again but headed off. It took a while to find a secluded location, next to a closed ticket booth no less. He pulled out his phone, ignoring his contacts and going to his recent calls.  
  
    After all, he ignored his mom’s calls how many times by now?  
  
    He still didn’t know what to say.  
  
    But finally he hit the call button, just praying he could inform her before the conversation blew up.  
  
    “Aaron?” His mother gasped as soon as she picked up. “Where have you been? I’ve been trying to check on you for weeks.”  
  
    “School’s been busy,” was his only answer.   
  
    “Did you manage to work enough to move up? Last time we spoke to your Principal–”  
  
    “Yeah, mom, I did. I got it all worked out.”  
  
    “Oh, good. I know how badly you want to be there.”  
  
    Yeah, if only she knew why. He ran a hand through his hair to ease his nerves, picking at a knot.   
  
    “The semester is over right? Are you coming home for break? Abbie really misses you.”  
  
    “I know she does but um, actually that’s why I called. Axl invited me to go visit his hometown.”   
  
    “Oh? Axl is...”   
  
    “My friend.”   
  
    “Just a friend?”  
  
    “Mom.”   
  
    “Sorry dear, just odd that you’d run off to stay with his family for break. Where’s he from?”   
  
    “Diggerton.”  
  
    He hated the silence that ran across the line. He fidgeted with his chain necklace before putting the pedant in his mouth.   
  
    “You’re going there for the whole break? Sweetie are you sure?”  
  
    “Yes mom, I’m sure.”   
  
    “But–”  
  
    “Mom,” he raised his voice to cut her off. The pendant fell from his lips. He gritted his teeth and pressed his palm to his forehead. “I don’t want to come home.”   
  
    “Huh? If you’d rather go see your dad–”  
  
    “No, I don’t want to see him either.”  
  
    “Sweetie, I don’t understand.”   
  
    “I know you don’t.” His voice cracked and he peeked around the side of the booth to see if anyone was nearby. “You’ve somehow gotten the idea that being so angry about what Dad did is normal.”  
  
    “Aaron, what he did–”  
  
    “I know what he did, Mom. I was there.” He raised his voice again. “And I don’t care anymore. I’m sick of listening to the two of you arguing. I’m sick of listening to you complain about it. I have to assume you don’t even notice how toxic your anger toward him makes you. You don’t get to take your anger out on me anymore. And stop taking it out on my sisters.”  
  
    “I do not–”  
  
    “You do. But hey, Dad does it too, so at least you still have that in common.”  
  
    “Excuse me?” She shouted. “Young man, you do not get to talk to me like that.”  
  
    “Yes I do. I’m done, Mom. Done. If you’d like to talk to me sort out your shit with Dad first.”  
  
    “You know we tried to make it work.”  
  
    “I don’t want you to make it work. I want both of you to get over it.” He shouted back. “It’s been years and you’re still so angry about it. You want to split up? Fine. But stop punishing your kids for it. Call me when you’ve found some closure.”   
  
    He didn’t wait for her reply. He hung up the phone, trying to ignore the vibrations as he headed back. He rejected the call. She tried again. He switched it over to silent.   
  
    His gaze was so fixed on the device he somehow missed Axl and ended up running right into him.   
  
    “You okay?” Axl rested his hand on Aaron’s head. “Does she know where you’re going?”  
  
    “Yup,” he tried to grin. “Told her that and... you know... that I pretty much never wanted to see her again. Went pretty well.”   
  
    Axl frowned. “Is that really what you said?”  
  
    “I said I didn’t want to talk to her until she figured stuff out with my dad. Which, is possibly going to be never, so...”   
  
    The conversation didn’t go much farther. Their railcar had arrived. The pair of them scurried to get their bags and reach the platform before they wound up being too late.   
  
    Aaron settled down next to Axl. He pulled out his portable console and turned it on but stared blankly at the start screen. Somehow he didn’t feel up to playing anything.  
  
    Axl nudged him, a bag of gummis in his hand. “Want some?”   
  
    “Nah,” he sighed. “Maybe I’ll just nap during the ride.”   
  
    The moment he said that Axl gripped his shoulder and tugged him down until his head was resting on his friend’s lap. Heat flashed in his cheeks but it was quickly forgotten when the car started to move.   
  
    Between the humming of the engine and the crinkle of plastic he found himself dozing off. Once or twice Axl patted him on the head, which just made him sleepier.   
  
    He passed out to the daydream of taking his sisters and his friends to his favorite amusement park.   
  
\-----------------  
  
    “So,” Axl said as they got off the railcar. “Sorry in advance if people crowd you. We don’t get a lot of visitors.”  
  
    “It’s cool,” Aaron rubbed his eyes, still a bit groggy from his nap. “You know I’m a huge extrovert.”   
  
    “Yeah, that’s why you have two friends.”  
  
    “Hey, I have three.” Aaron snapped back.   
  
    “Dunno, I think Clay may have disowned you after you put his Knight Code on that chandelier.”   
  
    “That was funny.”   
  
    “Not to Clay.”   
  
    Couldn’t argue with that.   
  
    As soon as they got close to the center of town the people took notice. A couple of adults cheered. A few more shouted Axl’s name. This got the attention of a group of kids who were playing a game of football. They left the ball on the ground, almost forgotten, as they all rushed over at once.   
  
    “Axl,” a little girl cheered as she jumped toward him.  
  
    Axl dropped the bags he was carrying in order to catch her. He spun her around a couple of times, grinning when she giggled.  
  
    The other kids jumped soon after. Clinging to his shoulders and his arms. Even with five of them dangling off him he didn’t break a sweat.   
  
    “How was the Academy? Did you learn to sword fight?”  
  
    “Forget the swords. You got a hammer right?”  
  
    “Did you get stronger? You used to only be able to pick up four of us.”   
  
    The kids all laughed when he flexed, picking them up even higher.   
  
    Aaron couldn’t help but smile as he watched it all. It was almost surreal. Axl was often considered a loner at school. Keeping to himself, most of the other students staying out of his way.  
  
    Seems it was the complete opposite around here.   
  
    “Guys, come on.” The adults finally reached them. “Give him some air he just got home.”  
  
    The kids complained but one by one they let go. They didn’t stray far though. The girl spotted Aaron and ducked behind Axl to hide while one of the boys approached him.  
  
    “Who’s this?” The kid frowned. “And what’s up with his hair? Is that it’s real color?”   
  
    Aaron frowned.  
  
    Axl laughed and tugged the kid back a bit. “Lay off Martin, he’s a friend of mine.”   
  
    “Oh, are you two going to do some training?” A boy with a squeaker voice asked. “I wanna see.”  
  
    “Probably not. We can’t bring weapons off the campus.”  
  
    “Hah,” Aaron tugged off his backpack and reached inside. “Maybe you can’t.” He snapped out his crossbow, hitting the trigger to open it all the way.  
  
    All the kids gasped in awe, their eyes practically glittering as they stared at it’s orange lights.   
  
    Axl frowned. “You only have training ammo for that, right?”  
  
    “Yes, yes, stop worrying so much.”   
  
    “I wanna see you guys spar.” Martin shouted.   
  
    Aaron shrugged. “Hey, that might not be a bad idea, eh buddy?”  
  
    Axl’s eyes almost seemed to glaze over as he frowned. “I could put you in the ground.”  
  
    “Hah! Yeah, I know, but it could still be fun.”   
  
    “Later, we still have to get our bags to Mom’s inn.” He patted the little girl on the head before giving her a nudge. “Go on, I’ll see you guys later.”  
  
    The kids all complained but finally headed back to their game.   
  
    Axl picked up their bags before they resume their walk through town. Plenty of people ran over to say hello, but understood the two of them wanted to get settled in before they socialized.   
  
    Honestly, Aaron liked it here already. People here were friendly. More than one of them offered to help them carry stuff.   
  
    Axl only had to knocked on the door to the inn once. It flew open and Aaron could already tell it was Axl’s mom. Had to get his good looks from somewhere.   
  
    “Axl,” she grabbed him and tugged him down so she could kiss his cheeks. “It’s so good to see you.”  
  
    “Good to see you too, Mom.” Axl had the most adorable grin on his face. “This is my friend from the academy, Aaron.”   
  
    The woman cheered again. Aaron started to reach out for a hand shake only to find himself being jerked forward, getting a smooch on the cheek as well.   
  
    “Oh, it’s nice to meet you.” She smiled. “Axl talks a lot about you. Something about you being crazy enough to sneak off into the training range early in the morning.”  
  
    Aaron froze and glanced at his friend. “You knew?”   
  
    Axl shrugged.  
  
    “Why not say anything?”  
  
    “Not my business. Figured you’d talk about if you wanted to.”   
  
    He sighed and shook his head. “You know something, dude? I don’t deserve you.”   
  
    “Well, if that’s not the sweetest thing.” Axl’s mom still hadn’t let go of his shoulders and gave them a squeeze.   
  
    “Well it’s true.” Aaron said. “You’re son’s amazing Mrs... um...”  
  
    “Oh we don’t have last names here.” She rolled her eyes and waved a hand. “You can just call me Mom.”   
  
    He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times at the concept. That seemed a bit forward didn’t it?  
  
    “Uh, right, okay Mom.”   
  
    “Now you’ve got it. Come in, come in, Axl you must be starving.”   
  
    “Psh, you know me too well.”   
  
    “Your father’s in the kitchen right now. I’ll get your sister to help set up your rooms. Are you joining us for dinner, Aaron?”  
  
    He grinned as he took in the sight of the inn. The structure itself seemed old but well taken care of. He took way too long admiring the stone fireplace.  
  
    “Don’t worry, you’ve got me until school starts back up.”   
  
    “Is that so?” Axl’s mom stopped for a moment and nudged her son in the side. “Just a friend you said?”  
  
    Axl frowned. “Mom.”   
  
    “Fine, upstairs you two. I’ll see you at dinner.” With that she vanished past the counter, likely headed for the kitchen.  
  
    “Sorry,” Axl muttered as they headed up the stairs.  
  
    “Dude, don’t apologize. I already love it here. Definitely beats home. Think those kids will join us for some video games?”   
  
    “Careful, once they get attached they won’t let go.”  
  
    “You forget I have four sisters.” Aaron tossed his bags onto his bed for the time being. “Speaking of sisters, where’s yours?”   
  
    “You’ll meet her soon enough.” Axl spoke loud enough that he could be heard even from next door. “And I told you to be careful, she might get a crush on you.”  
  
    “Eh,” Aaron leaned against the door. “Seems red hair is unpopular around here.”   
  
    “I like your hair.”   
  
    He almost slipped before straightening back up. “Yeah?”   
  
    “Sure, even if you dye it.”  
  
    The good feeling fled and he frowned. “I don’t dye it. This is it’s natural color.”  
  
    Axl peeked around the door. “That can’t be real.”  
  
    “It is! You’ve never seen my dye my hair.”  
  
    “I don’t see you all the time.”   
  
    “It’s real, I’m telling you. Hell, all my sisters have the same color. Well, except Aubrey. Somehow she ended up with brown.”   
  
    Axl shook his head and vanished again. “Hurry up and get unpacked. I want dinner.”   
  
    Aaron just blew a raspberry before slipping back into his room. He more or less jammed in clothes into the drawers and kept his game consoles on top of the dresser for now. He rummaged through his backpack for his headphones but his fingers brushed against a wooden frame instead.  
  
    He pulled out the photo, sometimes wondering why he still carried it around. It was the last full family photo they’d gotten before his parents split. Everyone crowded together in front of that willow tree in the backyard.   
  
    Aaron sighed as he put it on the night stand. He needed to call his sisters soon, catch up with them properly. Maybe he could convince Allison to bring them all here so they could hang out. No mom or dad involved.   
  
    He checked his phone for the first time in hours. Endless missed calls from his mom. Two from Aubrey. He’d send her a text after dinner. He just hoped whatever mess his mom was dealing with wasn’t effecting them too bad.   
  
    He was so fixed on the photo he somehow missed Axl stepping across the creaky floor. The hand on his head made him jump.   
  
    “Don’t ruin your appetite before dinner.” Axl made him look up.   
  
    Aaron tried to smile. “Sorry.”   
  
    “Don’t apologize. Even I know how it feels to miss your family.”   
  
    Aaron didn’t think much as he leaned to the side, his cheek pressing against Axl’s stomach. “Thanks, for being around I mean. You didn’t have to help out the way you did that day we met.”   
  
    “Eh, Lance is a jerk. Besides, it seemed like you could use a friend.”  
  
    “Got that from a first impression, huh?” Aaron glanced back up. “Swear you can read mind sometimes.”   
  
    “No, you just have a lot of tells, now come on. Dinner.”   
  
    “Oh no, too sad to move.” Aaron pretended to swoon. “You’ll have to carry me.”  
  
    “I’ll drag you.”   
  
    Aaron laughed, tempted to let him until he remembered the stairs. With that he stood and followed him back down to the dining room.   
  
    He still wasn’t sure what to do with his future, but if learning to be a knight kept his friends nearby, well, that sounded like a good reason to keep at it.   
  
    And who knew what other adventures might come with it. Good ones, bad ones, didn’t matter.   
  
    No fear, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Aaron and I'm v proud of him


End file.
